Patagonia Donates Record-Breaking Sum ‘for the Earth’

Patagonia, the high-end outdoor clothing retailer, is donating its entire Black Friday sales to grassroots environmental organizations around the world. This is great news for the company as CEO Rose Maracario states through an official blog post published Sunday, that the company reached a record-breaking $10 million in sales from its combined global retail and online Black Friday sales.

According to Marcario, the company will give every penny to nonprofits fighting “to protect our air, water and soil for future generations. The science is telling us loud and clear: We have a problem.”

The initiative was successful because of Patagonia’s ability to resonate beyond its loyal customer base, and reach thousands of new like minded customers. Marcario went further, “we’re encouraged to see the great interest from so many in making buying decisions that align with strong environmental values. During a difficult and divisive time, we felt it was important to go further and connect more of our customers, who love wild places, with those who are fighting tirelessly to protect them,”

The same post stated that the company expected 2 million in sales and was overjoyed by the effusive response by customers breaking that expectation 5 times over. These record breaking sales are even more impressive after company spokeswoman Corley Kenna told The Huffington Post. the company’s Black Friday initiative didn’t include discounted items, but still drew thousands of first-time Patagonia customers.

The initiative sprang up after concerns about resent results of the US presidential election, and the company pleaded its full support in showing that businesses and customers can do more in protecting the environment. CEO Marcario said protecting the environment “is not in conflict with running a successful business,” and was looking for something to showcase the importance of the environment and climate change. “By getting active in communities, we can raise our voices to defend policies and regulations that will protect wild places and wildlife, reduce carbon emissions, build a modern energy economy based on investment in renewables, and, most crucially, ensure the United States remains fully committed to the vital goals set forth in the Paris Agreement on climate change.”

The record breaking sales and donation suggest to be a philosophy many people from all of the world rallied around, but it is not a one time event. The pledged gift is in addition to the 1% of annual sales the company already gives to such groups, which has so far totaled $74 million. The chief executive stressed that these challenges affect everyone. “The threats facing our planet affect people of every political stripe, of every demographic, in every part of the country. We all stand to benefit from a healthy environment — and our children and grandchildren do, too.”